


We'll Burn That Bridge When We Get To It

by zombiecheetah



Series: Where Loyalties Lie [7]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Romance, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Family, Loki is dramatic, Magic, Mind Control, Mind Manipulation, Odinson Drama, Sigyn needs a drink, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2019-03-11 07:40:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13519587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombiecheetah/pseuds/zombiecheetah
Summary: Now having to win the trust of the Avengers, which side is Sigyn truly on? Follows "Snakes in the Garden."





	1. Shakespeare in the Park

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always welcome and appreciated. Come hang with me and get fic updates at my tumblr, zombiecheetah!

She found him on the side of a mountain between pissing contest A and pissing contest B.

The Midgardians who had captured him had literally left him lying on the side of a mountain while going off to...Norns knew what. He had sat down on the side of it, leaning on his forearms, only flinching slightly when she appeared, crossed armed, in gold and black and lavender. When their eyes met, his breath got caught in his throat. The last thing in the nine he was expecting was Sigyn, willingly standing on Midgard, in, what was this armor? When was she ever in armor?  

Armor or not, the most surprising thing about her face was how cool her expression was and how it somehow made her more attractive.

He went first. “Taking orders from Thor now, are we?”

Her tone with him was sharp. “I’ve always taken orders from Thor. He outranks me.”

“Always the follower.”  

She glanced down at him, raising an eyebrow. “Really? That’s how you’re playing this?”

He shrugged. “Given how I left, I did not think you cared what happened to me.”

Now she just looked hurt as well as angry. “What the Hel are you doing here, Loki?”

He gestured to the ground beneath the mountain they were currently planted on. “I have come to claim my kingdom.”

He watched a corner of her lip tug into a bitter half-smile. “I almost miss the days where that just meant me.”

Well, she was still making jokes at least, so she could not have been too far gone from him. He grinned at her, spreading his legs suggestively. “We seem to have a few moments...Thor is apparently making friends.”

She glanced back, towards the sound of a large crash that flattened about a hundred or so trees in the area, shaking her head. “Idiots.”

He laughed at that. “You are more like me than you think.”

“Only one of us has spent the past three days killing mortals and planning an invasion,” she stated, watching the three men make their way back to the mountainside.

He brushed off her concern. “How many mortals do you believe Odin has killed in his lifetime?”

“I would ask something along the lines of if Odin jumped off a bridge would you follow but we already know that answer…”

He glared at her, but shut up as they found themselves surrounded by three men, one, of course, being Thor.

“Is she with you?” the soldier in the blue asked Thor who nodded.

He watched her turned to the group and evaluate them. “I am Lady Sigyn of Asgard. I am here to assist Thor in fetching his brother.”

“Sooooo not Thor’s second in the case that I defeated him in battle?” quipped the man the archer had identified as the Iron Man. A bit obvious of a name in his opinion.

She apparently knew who he was as well. “I did not think it was the currently the custom here, Tony Stark. Nor did I think it was custom to leave one’s enemy unguarded in favor of a cock contest. I can wait here if you’d all like to continue. I think you missed a tree or two back there.”

Well, she had not lost her touch. It was almost reassuring to him, knowing that his absence had not completely destroyed her but yet she had missed him enough to come and fetch him. This was good. He could work with this. Perhaps get her on his side if he played his cards right.

“Sorry about that ma’am, you are absolutely right,” the soldier said with a nod. “Let’s go.”

“Suck up,” he heard Stark mutter, making Loki chuckle.

“Brace yourself, my dear Sigyn,” he murmured as she hooked her arm around him and pulled him up to his feet. “I’m afraid these men only get more insufferable from here.”

She didn’t meet his gaze. “Not only these men, Mischief, not even close.”

_She called me Mischief._

And with that, Loki went back to the plane with almost a spring in his step.

* * *

* * *

 

“So what’s your shtick?”

“Excuse me?” Sigyn looked up to see Stark still in his metal suit as Natasha handed her what they were willing to show of their files in the helicarrier. Apparently, despite having saved a town in New Mexico, being vouched for by Thor seemed to mean little to nothing here, as all eyes seemed to be on her, making her nervous. To be fair, the eyes and mistrust were probably because Stark had introduced her to the room as soon as they entered it as The Chick Who Boned the Target. Maybe she had chosen the wrong side after all.

Stark continued to prod. “Like Thor has his hammer and lightning, and Loki has horns and a glow stick, and you have?”

She sighed and looked up at him, her smile fake as her concern for his planet. “Patience.”

He laughed about that on his way to get redressed and all she could think of was how much more of a dick he was in real life than she had seen of him on their televisions.

It was not that she disliked Midgardians anymore or less than others in general. And she supposed the rest of them were okay, even if Banner looked at her like she was a science experiment. She sighed and looked up at Thor as the others talked around the two of them, him looking confused over various pop culture references that frankly she was not entirely upon as well. Thor met her eyes and shrugged. _Told you_ , she mouthed that earned a small smile from him.

While they were waiting for Loki and Fury to emerge, Natasha sat next to her as Thor leaned against a handrail, tapping his fingers against it.

She decided to break the ice a bit. These people needed to trust her if any of this was going to work. “You can say it,” Sigyn said, turning to Banner. “He looks like a strung out heroin addict, doesn’t he?”

Banner cracked a smile. “I just assumed he was always that charming.”

“Not always, I have stories.”

“Can you tell us yours?” Natasha asked. “Thor hasn’t really told us that much about you and at least the initial searches on the aliases you provided bring up a few different IDs from Cuba, Spain, Mexico, America, Canada, and so on, but there isn’t much besides that.”

She gave her a look. “Thought Stark had covered everything you needed to know.”

“Yeah, he’s a dick,” Steve said sitting down in front of them. “Still, some more information on where exactly you fit into all this would be great.”

She leaned forward, careful to not let her vambraces clink that hard on the table. “Short version is that in addition to my connections to Thor’s family,  I’m an Asgardian healer. I’ve been stationed to observe your planet for the past 300 years. Make sure the planet is protected against alien attacks as well as keeping up on your progress in space travel.”

“Did you fight in the second world war?” Steve asked, leaning in sounding hopeful. “It would be nice to talk about it with someone who at least looks like they’re the same age as me.”

“I have a good grand and a half or so years on you, Captain,” she said as she glanced over his file, making him evaluate her with interest. “The punishments for interfering are pretty unseemly and not something I often risked. I was in America during the war. In fact, I saw your show.” She paused and looked directly at him, flipping his file closed. “I hate your theme song.”

“I’ll try not to take that personally,” Rogers stated, rewarding her with a small smile.

_I think he likes you._

Sigyn tried not to freeze up or give any indication that anything was wrong. Of course, he chose now to respond to her calling out to him. Like Hel was she going to grace him with the pleasure of answering him. Quickly attempting to push him out of her head, she glanced over at Thor who was lost in his own thoughts, now picking his nails, looking nervous about going this long without seeing his brother back. Best to probably leave him alone.

She opened the next file, which featured a bow and arrow wielding SHIELD agent. Sigyn thought she saw Natasha’s shoulder muscles tighten out of the corner of her eye before another agent called the spy away to look at something.

_Bored yet?_

Sigyn paused over the archer’s details, staring intently at the file. She couldn't help it. She bit.

_You have yet to grant me the peace and quiet of boredom, Mischief. What do you want?_

_I would have thought you more eager to talk. We had so little time on that mountainside..._

_Timing seems to be an issue with us._

_You always seemed satisfied with my timing._

_I swear to the Norns, Loki…_

“Are you okay? You’ve been staring at Barton’s file pretty intently.”

She looked up to see Rogers still staring at her and she smoothly flipped the file closed. “Sometimes I can reach out with my seidr, you guys just call it magic, to find people. He’s, unfortunately, got them pretty well hidden. And he already knows all my tricks.”

_Was that a lie I just heard?_

She blinked, trying once again to mentally shove him out of her head.

Rogers nodded. “I don’t envy you. You’re in a tough spot.”

She cleared her throat. “I’ve been in a lot of tough spots. But all those times, I at least knew I had both Odinsons on my side. This is new.”

He paused for a moment before slowly asking his next question. “Sorry, if I’m out of line here, but why exactly were you with him in the first place?”

She wasn't expecting that. “You Midgardians can never shy away from the dirty details,” she said slyly, glancing over at Thor who was now talking to Banner. “We were friends, good friends, and then more than that. Loki exists in a constant state of digging himself in a hole. I just offer him a hand out sometimes. Sometimes he takes it and sometimes he just keeps on digging.”

“What are you going to do if he keeps digging? If it came down to it, you and him, could you kill him?”  

That question caught Thor’s attention. She caught his eye as she answered Rogers, looking amused at the question.

“Kill him? I am a healer on Asgard, Rogers, not a warrior by any stretch of the imagination. If it comes down to it, I physically and magically won’t be able to overpower him. He’s going to be the one to have to make the call if we meet on the battlefield if he’s going to kill me. And if he does, Valhalla apparently has amazing catering.”

She could see that Thor was not pleased with how flippantly she had answered the question, but her thoughts on the matter were quickly interrupted. “They’re moving him,” Natasha said, and they all gathered around the screen to watch Loki being placed into the large glass cage.

_Almost matches the size of his ego_ , she thought and then sat silently and allowed the others to discuss what to do next, with her fading into the background noise. Her head was still free from his voice, but she could feel him gazing over her shoulder, waiting for the next opportunity to strike.


	2. Our Little Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Loki in a cage and a moment to themselves, Thor and Sigyn go over their options and talk about the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning there are some brief mentions of torture.
> 
> Comments are always appreciated! For fic updates, hang out with me at zombiecheetah on tumblr.

Everything was a daze, a fog, but a fog that made him feel good. Gave him a sickly sweet aftertaste in his mouth. He could barely feel now where the soldier had knocked him off his feet. 

The cage was impressive, if useless. He could leave out the front door if he wanted to. He had considered it for a moment when Fury’s more grievous techniques had started to do more than tickle. Ever since the titan, his threshold for pain had skyrocketed. 

And yet still seeing his brother and Sigyn hit his heart with a thud. They had both looked disappointed, Sigyn’s face still deciding if it was happy or angry to see him alive. Not that he could blame her for either. 

He kept trying to reach out to her and she kept blocking him at every turn. What would he say anyhow? All he had said so far was just nonsense. Jokes even. Something to stay away from the subject of the two of them and what he had done. What he had planned on doing. 

His thoughts drifted to other memories. Him stabbing Thor multiple times through multiple schemes with his brother walking it off each time. That time when he had attempted early on in his and Sigyn’s friendship to frighten her with a snake in her bed, only to hear her coo at it through his wall, before asking if she was about to be stabbed as well. 

He was getting off target, he knew that. An unseen hand guided his mind back towards his plan while the back of his mind considered just how fitting it was that both Thor and Sigyn were here watching him raze this realm to the ground.

* * *

* * *

Thor sat down next to Sigyn as they watched Natasha on the screen talking to Loki, a task Sigyn had begged off for some reason. She had said that his brother only spoke the language of dramatics and theatrics, a statement that amused the Midgardians enough but was also one they both knew wasn’t the complete truth. The spy was sent instead, at Sigyn’s suggestion and now his sister in arms was silently thinking, her chin resting on her crossed arms, her fingers lightly tapping on the table. 

Sigyn had never been one to broadcast her feelings like his brother, nor did she actively go about hiding them, save for the few diplomatic situations he had seen her in. Whereas he could not decide if he was more angry or saddened by the whole ordeal, she just seemed tired, resigned.

“I did not expect him to be this far gone,” Thor said quietly to her when they finally had an uninterrupted moment alone together, “Did you?” 

She didn’t say anything, her eyes fixed on the monitor. 

“I heard you speak with Rogers earlier…”

“I’m sorry about that,” she murmured quietly, her voice muffled by her arm. “The question caught me off guard. I never thought about this going that far. I just want the three of us to go home.” 

“As do I,” he replied. He glanced around the room before asking her in almost a whisper, “Why did you insist the Midgardian speak to him?” 

“I did not wish to,” she said simply, glancing over at him. “This is not the place. Midgardians watching us like some kind of show. My pain is not for their entertainment.” She was quiet for a moment before speaking again. “You know that it’s only a matter of time before he squirms his way out of that adorable trap.” 

Thor smiled to himself. “You are so sure in his abilities?” 

She lifted her mouth from her arm so he could hear her speak properly. “You seem to have a new ability yourself. Since when did you begin to have the gift of sight? I’m almost embarrassed that my months of searching were rendered so instantly useless.” 

He cleared his throat. “It was one dream. I am not you or him. I have no sense of the power you both possess.” 

One of her fingers reached over and tapped his arm. “We all have seidr running through our bloodlines. Just because you haven’t tapped into it before does not mean it is not tapping into you.”

He gave a light scoff. “I am not sure if I understand or wish to understand your meaning.”

“One dream versus months of my searching, Thor. That’s something to investigate further.” 

“Perhaps we should speak instead about your own investigations,” he said in a low voice, “The controller of the would-be-king.”

She gave a short shake of her head as her eyes glanced around the room at the humans running to and from different stations. “I do not wish to go into details here. The last thing we need right now are more scared jumpy Midgardians running around.”  

“Fair point,” Thor said, his gaze returning to the screen. His thoughts kept going back to the Bifrost, to their fight, to the last words they had spoken to each other before he dropped. “Loki is...different. He told me before that he never wished for a throne.” 

“If my information is correct, he’s probably been through Hel,” she muttered. Thor took in that piece of information silently. His feelings on Loki were complicated, to say the least. On the one hand, memories of their shared time together as children seemed to never leave his brain. On the other, his brother’s threat to Jane that night on the Bifrost still rang in his ears, made his blood boil. Though on that note, his brother was not exactly minding his manners with the spy woman, and he winced at the vile things his brother spat. Sigyn just sighed.  

“Do you know how I healed your brother that time my father stabbed him in the chest?” she asked him, interrupting his thoughts. 

He shook his head. “Though his heritage now explains why he was so difficult to heal.” 

“It was our seidr,” she said quietly, turning to him more completely. “The power inhabits a place within. Knows us intimately, and in Mischief’s case, his own peculiar biology. My power reached out to his and we worked together to fix him.” She slowly sat up from the table. “I got the idea from a book. After that incident, I studied ten times harder than before so to never feel as lost as I did that night.”   

Her eyes flicked back to the monitor. “And yet here we are.” Her fingers kept tapping on the table and she was biting her lip so hard Thor swore he saw a drop or two of blood form on her lip. 

“No one is asking you to fix all this,” Thor said, wrapping his arm around her. “And definitely not by yourself.” 

She reached up and patted his hand on her shoulder. “Thank you,” she said, before shrugging him off, stretching her neck, and taking a breath. “I need further evaluation,” she said, more firmly this time. “Face to face, me and him. We barely cracked the surface when we briefly spoke on that mountainside.” 

He was quiet for a moment and his face must have given away his doubt as to her intentions as she gave a huff of a laugh. “Have a little faith, Thor. If I wished to fight by his side I would not be here right now. And would have punched Stark in the face on my way out. I do place some stock in the concept of loyalty.” 

“Your title was well earned,” he said with a nod. There were worst ideas. And much like when she had suggested the idea to search for his brother in the first place, she was not so much suggesting that she speak to Loki as much as asking him if he would like to be in on the plan. Once again, he yielded. “Well then. Perhaps an opportunity will present itself. But there is one question I have that you must answer me honestly,”

She stared at the table, her body tensing, preparing for some deeply invasive question. 

“Tell me, what is ‘Point Break’?”  

Her body relaxed immediately as she finally smiled. “No idea. I’ll ask.” She glanced up at him, her eyes once again bright. “So when exactly am I going to meet this Jane of yours?”

He coughed. “I suddenly feel the need to go check on Banner and Stark.” 

“Of course you do.” 

“I want you to stay here and keep an eye on things.” 

“I can do that.” 

She gave him a smile, her fist over her chest as he wandered out the door to locate the other humans, wondering just how this would all turn out in the end for all of them. 


	3. Unsupervised and Unsuper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki stabs things. Trust is earned and then threatened by an offer Sigyn may not be able to refuse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always welcomed and appreciated! For fic updates, visit my tumblr, also zombiecheetah.

Maybe it was nostalgia for his childhood days of old with Thor, but stabbing humans with various sharp objects was really growing on Loki. They were so soft, so fragile and their bodies broke in ways he had never experienced, so unlike Thor who had walked off every dagger Loki had inflicted him with. Thrusting the metal into the human’s body had felt cutting into the finest roast seen on Asgard. He even felt wonderful after the human had blasted him across the room with his dying breath, a move even he had to somewhat respect. Such an adorable sense of pluck.

That was until the helicopter pulled away and he looked back, only to see Sigyn standing on the edge of the broken carrier. Her face was unreadable, and he had half a mind to turn around, bring her with him. Her mind was still shut to him as he tried to creep around it once again. She had been known to fail in her defenses after emotional trauma. He would only need to keep trying and he knew he could reach her. Tell her everything. He wondered if she had taken any other lovers in his absence or if she had kept herself for him, for his return. She would understand all this, she would. It was only a matter of time.

A hand once again turned him back to the task at hand. He had the Tesseract and now the Avengers were scattered. Everything was going to plan.

* * *

* * *

Steve had prided himself on taking in the names of the dead after a battle during the war, looking at their names, giving them each a moment of silent appreciation. It had been his goal when he took on Hydra during the war, for that list to be as short as possible. Peggy had always reminded him of just how many he had saved those moments when the thought of Bucky being gone was too much for him to bear.

At least Thor and Banner, who were currently MIA, probably had the best chance of not being dead. No one had seen where Sigyn had gone, just that no one had seen her leave the ship. Barton was back at least, with Natasha hovering over him, making sure he was sorted out. Phil though. Phil was down. Number one Captain America fan Phil. Phil who had been so calm and collected around everyone else but a nervous fanboy around him. Phil hurt more than any hit he had taken from Loki in Germany.

He was on his way to Fury’s meeting when he found Sigyn bent down and hovered over an agent in the middle of the hallway, being very soothing as she evaluated the knife in his leg, her hands glowing with a golden shimmer.

“So, Marcus, that was your name, correct?” he heard her say. “Just so you know you aren’t seeing things, yes, my hands are actually glowing. Can you still feel pain?”

He shook his head, his eyes wide. “You would think working here you’d get used to this stuff.”

“Trust me, I’m over a thousand years old and I’m still not used to this,” she said, as she slowly began to ease the knife out of his leg, glancing up at the super soldier in front of her. “Hey, Rogers. Meet Marcus. He got stabbed.”

“I can see that,” he said, trying to smile like he had on those tours, bending down next to Sigyn, holding out his hand to the man down on the floor. “Steve Rogers.”

“Sir, you do not have to introduce yourself,” Marcus said with a shake, giving Steve’s hand a firm shake while leaning up against the wall. “It is an honor. Must be some kind of day to have met an alien and Captain America at the same time.”

“Must be,” Stever replied, watching as Sigyn fully extracted the knife in one hand, her other hand hovering for a moment over Marcus’ skin, closing the wound. She gave the dagger a small flip in her hand, magically cleaning the blood off it and then offered the hilt to Marcus. “Want a keepsake?”

He slowly took the knife into his hand, and then looked down at his leg. “I think my leg actually might feel better than it did before.”

“Good,” she said with a smile, standing and offering him a hand, which he took and she easily pulled him to his feet. “Why don’t you get yourself cleaned up?” she said with a smile.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, nodding at Steve as he left. “Sir.”

Steve gave Marcus a small nod as he left before turning back to Sigyn. She looked tired and her smile faded. “I’m sorry about Phil,” she said quietly. “How are you holding up?”

“Managing. Where were you during this whole thing?”

“Protecting the group of teenagers Fury has running that control room,” she replied. “Then doing what I’m good at.”

“Healing people?”

She smiled sadly. “I was going to say bury myself in my work to avoid the crashing waves of emotional pain, but sure.” Her tone became more serious. “Thor’s alive. Somewhere. Banner too. My abilities in the magical scanning department are limited but it’s better than nothing.”

“And what about Loki?”

He could tell the question wasn’t the easiest for her to answer and her silence wasn’t helping his nerves. “I’m still trying to find him for you,” she finally said. “Invent new tricks to get around his.”

Steve nodded, watching her bite the inside of her cheek, her arms crossed, which were covered in blood. “You’re still here.”

He had meant it as a compliment but it only seemed to harden her expression. “You do not trust me.”

Her statement held a lot of bitterness. He supposed he would also be frustrated if he was in her shoes. Thor had trusted her, had he not? And Loki was gone now. She could have easily left with him. He placed a hand on her (less bloodied) shoulder. “I do now,” he said much more warmly. “You must be a really great doctor up in Asgard.”

The statement had made her almost smile. “Not as good as you are at punching Hitler.”

That made the two of them chuckle. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and continued, her tone more serious, determined. “Earlier Tony asked me what my thing was. On Asgard, I am the Goddess of Loyalty and it’s a title I take seriously. I can’t fix all this. But I can try to help you stop it. If it’s okay with you, I’m going to go find somewhere somewhat quiet and look for him again. Can you catch me up with whatever it is Fury has to say?”

Fine by him to let her prove herself to the team. “Sure. Let me know when you find him.” He gave her shoulder a pat before taking off down the hallway, not sure if he was really ready to hear what Fury had to say.  

* * *

* * *

_Well, that went well at least._

After everything that had happened today, Sigyn at least had the trust of one superhero. One she could work with who also happened to be the leader of the team. Well, she supposed Fury was technically that but she couldn’t see him trusting the day of the week. Anyhow, he would do, for now. At the end of the day, she had a goal, Loki, and this bit of good faith was going to help her reach him.

A pull of seidr from her made her armor fresh and new, instead of covered with the fluids of the various humans she had assisted. Another pull and she was searching, looking, while also opening her own mind up, slowly, carefully. Just a crack here or there. Something that would be irresistible.

She had her catch earlier than she thought she would.

_You seem to be distracted._

His voice was a whisper and sent chills down her spine. Always the one for dramatics.

_The only thing I'm focused on right now is you, Mischief. Trying to figure out what the point of that mess was._

She thought she heard him chuckle right in her ear. _I thought it would be easy to separate them. And it was._

_They are all very angry at you for killing their friend. You probably made this more difficult for yourself._

_Ah, well, we shall see. Will you be joining me then? Before my reign begins?_

She took a moment to reconsider this idea of hers for a moment. Going to see him would be a Very Bad Idea. Window of opportunity or not, Loki now had powers of mind control. If he gained control of her mind he could use her power to hurt more people, which she did not want to risk. She had stayed off the battlefield all these years for a reason.

_I will not tell your little team if you do not._

This was a trap. Well, was it a trap if she knew it was a trap? And there was also the fact that she didn’t have to go through with this. She could just sit back and allow the others to deal with it. Beg off again and just stay on the carrier, show off her fun glowy hand powers to the humans. That would be just fine.

 _Please_.

He never begged, save those lost treasured moments when the two of them had been naked and horizontal. Was he begging her or was Thanos just continuing to taunt her from his head? She didn’t have a lot of time or options. But his next words made her ears perk.

_Stark’s tower. Meet me there._

And that was enough for her to make a decision.

_I’ll follow._


	4. A Man With Two Masters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and Sigyn have a chat and Loki makes a move that may hurt their relationship forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always welcomed and appreciated and I do answer all of them as well! For fic updates, hang out with me on my tumblr at zombiecheetah!

Loki paced around the floor of Stark’s apartment, his mindless minions now outside setting up his machine. 

He had taken her for granted. He knew that, had been reminded of that every time Thanos had unleashed whatever new horror upon him before ending his session with sweeter talk in his ear. Whatever was spoken about the titan, one could not deny that his ability to set one aflame in pain and then present one with an offer that not only one could not refuse but looked so enticing and appealing to his nature, he could only say yes. 

His hands held the warm metal of his scepter as he thought of the human’s words before he had speared him through the chest. 

Conviction. 

Perhaps somewhere inside his head, under different circumstances, he would have agreed with him. But the part of him yelling at himself to stop currently felt as if it was being pushed underwater, cursing him as he called Sigyn to him. 

“Mischief.” 

He turned to see her paused by the bar. It was only now, upon seeing her in daylight that he noticed the dark circles under her eyes and the vambraces on her arms he only now recognized as his own. In his memory of her, the one he had clung to in those deeper moments of pain, it was always her in her navy, with her hair all over the place, eyes bright probably buried in a book, draped over him under a tree. Her hair was still a mess, but her eyes were tired, the armor didn’t suit her and the look she gave him had no holy glow about it, only pain. 

He extended his hand out to her, his fingers reaching out to her. “I have never been more happy to see you.” 

She slowly moved from the door frame out into the room. “Is that really necessary?” she asked him, nodding to the scepter that was still in his hand. “I’m not here to fight you. Just to talk.” 

He dropped his outreached hand and slowly moved towards the bar and set his scepter on top of it. Her shoulders physically relaxed a bit and she took a long slow deep breath. “So,” she said quietly looking up at him. “What’s your plan here?”  

She was already on edge. He would need to calm her first before persuading her. Explain himself.  “The plan is to conquer this realm and rule it. Secure the Tesseract for my employer. And then I will finally have the kingdom I was promised and finally be Thor’s equal.”

“In whose eyes, exactly?” she asked him. “With all of these protectors, including Thor, that’s a high pile of corpses to balance a throne atop of. Though, I suppose it’s easier to best Thor if he’s dead.” 

“If there is a point-”

“This just seems like a lot of work. Conquering. Ruling. Midgard is so split. The humans’ lives are so short they’re just are dots on the radar. I experienced so much heartache and pain here that I chose to shut myself off as much as I could from all of them.” 

“The chaos, you mean,” he mused, “and chaos is my calling card, my dear, you know that.” 

“Chaos and mischief are different from destruction and fascism,” she said turning to the window. “I like how you put that before.  _ Employer. _ Pretending you had a choice in the matter.” 

The haze in his head seemed to fade into the background. He had no idea why or how and assumed that it was probably part of some trap the titan had laid for him. Still, he took the opportunity to speak as plainly as he could to her. “If you believe I have no choice here then you will believe me when I say I can not stop this. No one can. This needs to happen. The battle, his army, will come for all of us. The best you can do for yourself is to hide away until this is over.” 

She shook her head, biting through the scab on her bottom lip, her tone bitter. “Still wanting me to stand to the side, then?” 

“I would prefer for you to live,” he insisted, trying not to become frustrated. How could he tell her, show her how much danger she was in? “Unless you plan on joining me…”

“I suppose you have not asked me to join you for the same reason I have not asked you to stop,” she said with a sigh. “Neither of us can afford to. Can you at least tell me, before all this starts, why you left me?” 

“Sin.” He reached out to her again only to have her slowly back away from him, shaking her head. It had felt like centuries since they had embraced… “Nothing about my taking leave of Asgard had anything to do with you.” 

Her tone was tight and he wondered if her chest also felt as if it were being crushed like his did. “You have no idea the risk you’ve put me under doing that. I could have been killed. If not by the other frost giants, I could have been executed had Thor and Frigga not believed that I had nothing to do with Jotunheim.” 

“And you are still at risk here, Sin,” he said, trying to apologize with his eyes as he spoke to her desperately. “You need to leave. He has seen you in my mind’s eye. You will be killed. I know I have given you no reason to trust me, but you must.” 

  
She still looked hurt and unconvinced, “Do you remember when we first met and you were so concerned about your mother and you didn't think I could heal her? What did I say to you?” 

He sighed. “Ye of little faith.” He took a breath, trying not to think of the past, trying to make his point as quickly as possible before the haze settled back into his head. “That is not the point. You do not need to fight with Thor to prove something to me, to him. You do see how incredibly short-sighted that is?” 

“I do not think you wish to get into a discussion of whose decisions were shortsighted,” she said grimly. “I was on the brink of happiness and you had to go and ruin everything. If anything, this battle should be very cathartic for me.” 

“Sigyn,” he said, his voice like a dagger,“Scan me. Look me over. Tell me that I have not already paid dearly for my sins against you and then tell me that you would rather fight for these creatures than escape this whole ordeal while you still can.” 

“I did when I walked into the room, Loki,” she said looking up at him. “You’re right. You have been through a Hel I would never wish upon you. But I’m done running, hiding, standing to the side. I need to do this for myself. Besides,” she added, her determined tone turning almost playful, “We’re going to win.” 

“You seem so certain,” he said blankly. “Why?” 

“Victory is my name,” she said to him, with a soft smile. “I think my father named me such because he wished for victory over your family after your father’s deal with my grandfather turned sour.” 

“He was a bitter man.” 

“He let the bitterness poison him until he was no longer recognizable,” she said turning to look at him. “I can’t stand by as you prepare to reign fire down on these people, Loki. If you can’t stop this, then I can at least help to.” 

“As long as you are aware that you leave me no choice.” He lifted his hand almost nonchalantly to call his scepter back into it. “I do not wish to do this, but I will if it will save your life.”

Her eyes widened slightly as the staff hovered over her chest, her face shining in the blue light, her eyes growing wet, but she did not move from her spot on the floor. “That’s a low blow, Loki,” she murmured. “Please. Don’t.” 

_ He will make you yearn for something as sweet as pain.  _

The fog in his head started to creep back into the edges of his mind, threatening to flood. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, not quite being able to meet her gaze. “After all this is done, you will forgive me, I know this.” 

His scepter went to gently tap the top of her chest, only to ghost right through what he could only now obviously see was a projection of his lover. 

_ No _ . 

Sigyn tried to quip her way through her disappointment. “I just thought imitation was the most sincere form of flattery,” she said tightly, struggling to still smile at him. “I’ll see you in a little bit, Mischief.” 

And then she vanished, leaving him totally alone. Just him, his scepter, and the sticky sweet haze of purple that once again flooded his mind.

* * *

* * *

Steve had taken orders before, but he hadn’t expected those orders to come from an alien through Stark’s magical talking butler. 

“Rogers,” Stark said into Steve’s earpiece on his way to grab Natasha and Clint. “JARVIS sent a message from the Asgardian chick from the tower. She’s stalling Loki for us and she said to take jet 2342 and to please take care not to trip over the body.” 

“What the hell?” Rogers had questioned, wondering just what Tony had taken a hit of before going off to repair his suit. 

“Look, it’s up to you if you want to listen to her or not. I’m on my way so I’ll let you know if she’s pulling our leg.”

_ Trust.  _ This was a test of just how much he trusted her. Did he really believe that she had gone off to stall, not join Loki? Though it wasn’t like she hadn’t had opportunities before. And how did she get to the tower so fast? 

In the end, he decided to take a chance, given that they needed to take a jet anyway. Despite the warning, Steve had almost tripped over Sigyn’s steadily concentrating form sitting legs crossed on the floor of the jet, her message now coming together for him. 

“So, what the fuck is she supposed to be doing?” Barton asked Rogers. “Meditating, maybe?” 

“She said she’s stalling Loki, so maybe she’s telepathically attacking him?”

“How about we go and see?” Natasha said, sitting in the pilot’s seat and flipping a couple of buttons. “For now, let’s give the happy couple time to talk things out.”

“Couple?” Barton asked Rogers, looking confused.

“I’ll explain on the way.”

Barton wasn’t pleased with all at the woman’s connection to the man who had just invaded his mind but seemed to take comfort in her now invading Loki’s at the assurance of Rogers, and both he and Natasha were relatively quiet as they all strapped in and flew the jet towards New York. 

When Sigyn’s eyes suddenly opened, it was with a gasp. Her face had lost its warmth of color and her whole body seemed to have broken into a cold sweat. He also could not help but notice that her eyes were red and that she did not look happy. 

“Welcome back,” he said, peering at her. “Are you alright?” 

She nodded, giving a cough. “Just fine,” she wheezed.  

“You don’t look fine.” 

“Projection and magic through projection I do not do often, and never from this distance,” she said, running a trembling hand through her hair, taking a few deep breaths to help her settle, giving Captain a brave smile. “You followed my instructions.”  

“We did,” he said with a nod. “So...Loki?” 

  
She did not look at him as she answered. “He couldn’t stop this if he wanted to. I tried to clear his head by getting in there myself but I couldn’t hold it.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, your ladyship,” Clint called from the console. “Just someone hold him down for a few minutes and I’ll be sure he’s clear of a lot of things.”  

“And you are?” she asked, peering at the front, “Clint Barton, perhaps?” 

“Yes, ma’am. Your boyfriend can go the fuck to hell.” 

“Noted,” she said with a sigh, leaning back against the wall of the jet, turning to Steve. “How did he-”

“Natasha hit him really hard on the head.” 

“Damn,” Sigyn breathed, “If only I’d known before going to him…” 

She was still breathing pretty heavily making Steve press further, “What did he do to you?”

The question just seemed to annoy her. “Nothing, Rogers, gods, I’m just drained. Magic is like a battery and I just used a ton of it to pull that stunt. Maybe I can find something down there to help recharge me…”

“Like a battery,” he said, trying to understand. 

She nodded, quickly wiping her eyes, shakily standing. “Even us gods have our limits. The fastest way I can think of is currently out of the question for a number of reasons,  _ shit _ ,” she cursed as she banged her head on the top of the jet, leaving a small dent. “Why is this plane so small?” 

“No idea,” Steve said, still looking her up and down. “Since we are strapped for time, and we’re heading into a battle, what exactly is the fastest way to recharge you?” 

She smirked. “A very specific yet basic type of energy transfer between people.” Her gaze flicked up and down his frame. “I mean, I’ve had to in smaller areas and I like you, but I think you need your energy too.” 

He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

“She means fucking,” Clint called back. “Jesus, Captain, you should spend more time in the gutter just to get basic shit like that.”

“I’d have to agree with Barton,” Natasha agreed dryly. 

Sigyn turned to Steve. “I’ll be fine. Thor would want me to stay in the shadows anyhow. Focus on evacuation. Help panicking Midgardians who are figuring out for the first time they aren’t alone in the universe and so on.” 

“Do you even have a weapon?”

“I have my talents and a dagger or two,” she assured him. “I’ll be fine.”  

He nodded, noting just how dark the circles around her eyes were. “Um, so, would like not sex but would less intimate physical contact help? At all?”

“A bit,” she said staring at him, raising an eyebrow. “Is that an invitation?” 

“You just look like you’re going to throw up on my shoes.”

“Way to set the mood, Rogers.” 

“But are you sure-”

“Steve,” she cut in, now very annoyed. “If you ask me one more time if I’m okay, I will choose an orifice of yours and shove your pretty little shield into it.” 

He blinked. “Now I see why you and Loki were a thing,” Steve grumbled, looking out across New York, wondering just how this thing was going to go down and if they were truly ready for what was to come. 


	5. Seven Nation Army

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> War comes to NYC and both Sigyn and Loki struggle with past decisions and future consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter took so long! I got super sick and it threw off my whole writing schedule. 
> 
> Like Loki, I also enjoy validation so please feel free to leave a comment! For fic updates, my tumblr is zombiecheetah. 
> 
> Enjoy!

When her grandfather spoke of war, he spoke of the beauty and glory of the battlefield. Well, more like wheezed through the same ten tales as she sat listening quietly, her fingers playing with her skirts as she watched him decay in front of her. His power may have been as old as the universe, but the universe had left him in the dust, a crumbling relic of a time long gone.

His stories always ended with the same rant about how their days and people were softer, no thanks to the hack who sat on the throne. Sigyn doubted Odin had an enemy as completely obsessed with him as her grandfather, their falling out not so much a fresh wound but a festering cut, slowly poisoning him to death.

“He cursed our blood,” he used to spit, “Too frightened of having an equal to him.” 

“Of course, father,” her own father had said, lapping up every poisonous word, “Odin will pay someday, you will see. I have a plan.” 

“You say that every time,” her grandfather had responded in a low voice, “And yet here you are with empty promises and disappointing results.” 

Their fighting was a cue for her to leave the room and return to her own, sealing the door behind her, trying to not allow the sounds of shouting distract her from her latest novel.

Her grandfather had not liked her. He always thought her soft, mistaking her well-practiced calm as weakness. The career of healing he thought was admirable but below them, damnation enough that made her pursue it, excel at it even. The skill had offered her an escape and a livelihood, but it had also landed her here, on a broken concrete street on Earth, Natasha covering her as she pressed her hand on the stuttering ship Hulk had brought down. She briefly wondered if her grandfather would be happy to see her in armor, like the Valkyries of days past, about to use the power she had inherited from him for battle. 

The metal of the ship was hot against her fingertips and she could still feel the stirring of power inside of it, her head filled with the sounds of buzzing, the army’s hive mind planning their stings. She pulled in her gut and with it, the remaining power from the ship, their chattering becoming more hurried as they sensed danger until it was barely a whisper. The power flowed through her like hot cocoa on a snow chilled day, lighting an energy in her she was not wholly familiar with. 

“Not that I’ve got places to be,” she heard Natasha’s sly voice over her shoulder, having ducked behind the car they were behind to reload, “but anytime you would like to help a girl out-”

Sigyn drew her hand from the ship, her fingertips tingling, looking at Natasha, whose green eyes evaluated her face. 

“You look better but also high as a kite,” the spider remarked, pulling herself back up and scoring two more headshots. High wasn’t quite the right term, the feeling lingered somewhere between a warm bath, a shot, and an orgasm. A feeling she could easily bury her more unpleasant emotions into.

It barely took any effort at all for Sigyn to call up a force field, its golden walls easy deflecting the blasts, before she  pressed the field forward sending the half dozen or so attackers flying into the air and landing dead on concrete. 

"Efficient," Natasha remarked, looking halfway impressed, turning to her, "You must be a hit at parties." 

“So I’m beginning to sense that this whole not trained thing is complete bullshit,” she could hear Clint say into her comm. 

“I’m not, really, I just have a few unexpressed feelings about our current situation,” Sigyn said, her heart racing as she sent another two flying into the air. 

The archer laughed in her ear. “Fuck, me too, sweetheart, me too.”

* * *

* * *

 

Stabbing his brother had not felt like stabbing the human. 

Instead of giving him a high he felt he could never tumble from, stabbing Thor brought back a harsh wave of memories even the haze couldn’t completely hold back, of the two growing up, playing together. Thor’s radiant grin that warmed his entire face as he wrapped an arm around his little brother, telling him just how proud he was of him. 

Today, Loki had laughed, grinned in the face of Thor’s disappointment and exasperation, pretending that his consideration of his brother's offer to stop this nonsense together was only a ploy to hurt him further. 

He supposed in a way it was. 

But there was no stopping this, he thought, as he soared through the air, chuckling about nothing at all along the way. 

The glimpse of her in the corner of his eye made his smile slid clean off his face, as he circled around to see Sigyn in the flesh now, her eyes aflame as she shielded a path for the humans to make their way to an underground "subway" as a shop of the same name began to tumble in upon itself. 

The two fliers that flanked him had apparently spotted what he had, and took the position to rein down blasts to her little rescue operation, making him quickly turn his back, confusing the creatures. 

“Leave it,” he hissed, nodding over to the raging creature tearing his army apart, “We have larger, _greener_ things to worry about.” 

As they flew towards the man who was a monster, Loki wondered just how long he could hold off his army from shooting her down. 

* * *

* * *

“It’s going to be okay,” Sigyn soothed, as she followed the mother-daughter pair she had found hidden under a car down the stairwell to the subway, making sure that the group of humans gathered was still pleasantly invading alien force-free. The group grew every time she returned, their eyes following her, their whispers growing louder and making her more uncomfortable as the battle raged on. It didn’t help that her power was beginning to weaken, much faster than usual she noted, only increasing her anxiety. 

“Stay here, don’t come up until the all clear,” she hoarsely instructed, rushing back up the stairs as she felt the room take a collective breath, opening their mouths to ask a million questions she could spend the entirety of her impressive lifespan not answering. 

She spotted Rogers in the distance, finishing beating down his latest attackers into a neat pile of broken flesh and metal, looking up at her and giving her a nod. 

“You don’t look so hot, Rogers-“ Her quip turned into a cry as she felt a searing white-hot pain in her stomach and a burning metal arm around her neck. One of the creatures had enthusiastically plunged a dagger deep into her stomach and didn’t hesitate before giving it a twist, the blade feeling as if it were peeling inside of her, her briefly remembering Loki peeling his apples in a similar fashion. Her head went light for a moment, her ears ringing, her mind removing itself from the pain it was currently experiencing, instead choosing to drift to that afternoon in the gardens where he had given her a new book to read, apples to eat, and a lap to read in, them both eventually falling asleep under a tree, curled into each other.

It was difficult to judge if the metal or memory hurt worse. 

The world she was currently standing in started to shift back into focus, soft trees and grass replaced with loud explosions, hard concrete and twisted steel. She heard shouting, and clanging, and could hear the sounds of the creature behind her, almost laughing at her, just as she felt the Norns were. Rage was once again easy to call upon and she balled her hands into fists, her nails cutting into her palms as she pulled from her power, throwing the creature off her back and onto the ground. 

She gritted her teeth and pulled the dagger out with a sob, her side screaming as she turned and threw the knife straight into the eye of her attacker and he plopped dead onto the cement with a large clunk. Good to see her time spent with their horned attacker wasn’t completely useless. 

Her head was still spinning and she tried to get her bearings, suddenly feeling an arm wrap around her, pulling them both back for cover, her wound not to politely letting her know that it was very unhappy with their speed of movement. 

“We can hold up in here for a second,” she heard Steve’s voice say as they settled in an alleyway. She was breathing hard as her hands went to her side, her undershirt already soaked with blood. Rather than the small pricks Loki often gifted his brother with, this was a large gash, which had nicked more than a few things that were making her bleed heavily. Her fingers trembled a bit as the pull of seidr hurt her gut but her hands still glowed and she tended to herself for a moment, Rogers acting as a lookout. Always felt nice to not be left bleeding out in the street.

“Sorry about that,” he said, nodding to her side, almost apologetically. Maybe she was just delirious as she pulled back into focus, but his eyes were nearly as blue as Thor’s and it wasn’t the worst possible thing to be looking at the moment. “I should have seen him but didn’t see him until it was too late.” 

“Not your fault,” she coughed, the pain finally starting to dull, “I was out of it too. Humans were making me nervous.” 

The ground beneath them shook as they both heard the sound of another explosion nearby. “The humans,” Steve repeated looking thoroughly entertained, “That scary huh?” 

“Have you met a reporter?” she dully retorted, making Steve chuckle, his eyes watching her skin knit itself back together. The internal damage was healed enough for now. She wasn’t sure why she felt so drained so quickly with the amount of power she had taken from the ship, but she needed to either find another power source or be much more conservative with her talents if she was going to last. 

Steve interrupted her thoughts. “Look, you help get us through this and I’ll take on every journalist CNN sends after you.” He held out a hand and she took it, and he smoothly pulled her up. 

“My hero,” she said dryly, sliding a dagger out from its sheath in her armor, hoping that it would be enough to get her through, following the soldier back out into unfamiliar territory.

* * *

* * *

Ow.

Jotuns were  _ almost _ as tough as Aesir, he bitterly remembered being told over and over as a boy. The only blessed thing about him being currently buried in the concrete of Stark’s floor was that the haze had completely lost its hold on him, disappearing into nothingness, leaving him with just him and his own thoughts.  

He was going to lose. Thank the nine. Thanos was still working out his plan, so Asgard would be safe at least for now. The rage of his father he couldn’t give a damn about. The disappointment of Thor and his mother were inevitable, though his mother would forgive him. Thor perhaps in time. His older brother always found use in forgiving him when he wanted something. None of them would believe that this was not at the very least totally his fault. He was surprised at just how little clarity he had in terms of what the haze wanted him to do and what he had wished to do. He had wished for more than he liked to admit, had downright relished parts of this fiasco. 

The thought of having to face Sigyn made his stomach turn so much he could taste bile at the back of his throat. He felt himself blaming Thor. What moment of insanity had possessed his brother so to allow Sigyn to accompany him? The oaf has all but given her the stick she had used to prod the belly of the beast whose army was now flying freely around the planet. She had changed too, he could feel it in her head, he had not seen walls built that high since they had first met. Not that he blamed her. He had been privy to many a secret, many an intimate moment of trust, long before they had begun courting. It took him awhile to foil her practiced way of being incredibly warm and seemingly open until questions became too personal and she would graciously show him another trail to travel down. Not that he was anymore practiced at sharing emotions though he had tried with her. Gods, he had tried. And failed spectacularly, given their current shared predicament. 

At this point, perhaps the ax would be preferable to a cell. Free the universe from him. Free his head from his tortured reflections. The titan would not be able to reach him in the land of the dead. And Sigyn could find someone more worthy of her time. 

Winners all around.

* * *

* * *

The wound in her stomach was her only major injury, a win in Sigyn's book. The group was now gathered in Stark Tower, Thor embracing her tightly at first and then much more gently after she gave out a small yelp, him insisting she needed to stay in bed for at least a week when they returned to Asgard. The others were much warmer to her post-battle, though she found the gathering awkward as the golden-horned elephant was currently sitting in the room. 

Loki’s eyes barely left her as Thor sat him down and cuffed him, sitting guard as the others got drinks. She was sitting on the couch, across from the two of them, slowly growing more frustrated with the pain in her side. Her quick fix hadn’t been her best work and she would need a day or so to recover if she was going to try to correct it herself, but still, it was odd that it was hurting this badly. The rest of her body had begun to ache as well. Initially, she thought it was soreness from the fight, but the sensation became something different that sunk a deeper kind of tiredness into her bones. 

“Natasha and Clint are taking care of Banner,” Steve said, walking over to her. Tony was at the bar making himself a cocktail he was determined to make Loki watch him drink and Thor, well, didn't look that happy about the current family reunion. “Apparently, the showers here are still functional,” Rogers continued, “and yeah, I know, shield and orifices but I gotta say it-”

“You’re right,” she said quietly, not looking at him. “Something’s wrong.” 

Steve's face softened, though she caught a small glare from him to Loki, who looked up at the soldier innocently. “You wanna go talk?” Steve asked nodding towards the elevators, a move that made Loki cut in. 

“Please, don’t feel you need to leave on my account. The only piece of prattle I wish to hear is what exactly was said about your shield and orifices,” he said, the smoothness of his voice only betrayed by a concerning eye. She had caught Thor’s attention now as well, his blue eyes peering at her.

Making no move to leave the room, she carefully unbuckled her armor and tossed it to the floor with a wince as to better lift her undershirt, the gash having returned, now crusted over and black, oozing watery red liquid. 

Steve’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline, as he sat down next to her, “I didn’t think making it reappear was part of the trick.”  

“I took a shortcut or two to conserve energy because I was losing a lot quickly and I’m usually much better at regulating-”

“You drained one of their ships, didn’t you?” 

Loki’s tone was perfectly serious as she turned to look at him, all traces of devious playfulness faded from his face. 

“It’s backfiring,” he said quietly. “A defense mechanism of theirs. It’s trying to kill you.” He clicked his tongue, “It’s why mother warned us against taking power from unknown sources.”

“It was an emergency-” 

“Not to cut in here,” Tony shouted over, “but I went through a lot of trouble blowing up that big ass ship of theirs-”

“Their power source in unfriendly hosts acts like a parasite,” Loki said quickly. “As long as it has a host it can live, usually settling around an injury making it fester-”

“Yeah, I think we are all beyond done with your bullshit today. JARVIS, can you get Dr. Cho on the line,” Stark said flicking an olive into his drink, his feet firmly planted at the bar, “Reindeer’s talking out of his ass. She probably just needs fluids. And a shot of tequila,” he said, taking a moment to consider his own suggestion before pouring himself one. 

As much as she would like Stark’s version of the story to be true, she knew by the growing stabbing in her side and the way the lights were beginning to haze that Loki was telling the truth. He leaned forward slightly his chains clinking as he did so meeting her gaze, his green eyes filled with the same fear she had seen earlier through the projection, “You have perhaps a few hours before this thing kills you. Probably less given your condition. The only way you do not die on this planet is if you let me help you,” He looked as if he was about to say more, but held back at the last moment, eyeing Steve and Tony. 

“You mean, cut you lose from those special Asgardian cuffs so you can use your magic to escape,” Steve said looking unconvinced. 

“Hate to burst your bubble, Captain,” she said carefully, clutching her side tightly, “but he’s right. We need to plan something quickly before I’m indisposed.” 

“What are you suggesting?” Steve asked crossing his arms. “And why do I feel like I’m not going to like it?” 

“If you think I’m uncuffing him-” Thor growled out.

“You don’t really have a choice,” Loki replied, struggling to not lose his limited patience with the other two men. “After being smashed into the ground by that creature I’ll need full access to my power. Unless you would like to explain to mother why Sin died of perfectly preventable circumstances?” 

“That explanation is easy as it began when you attempted to take over a realm, no wait, I believe we can go back further-” 

“I don't see what you’re complaining about, I barely got twelve blocks in-”

“If the two of you are seriously about to start a fight right now then please just let me die,” she said, rubbing her temples, her eyes beginning to water from the searing burning that was now starting to spread in her gut, making the two of them fall silent. “Mischief is the best option we have right now. Even if we left immediately to go to Asgard, I’m still the best trauma healer we have. Second and third best would be debating on treatment over my corpse.” 

“Loki isn’t a healer,” Thor insisted.    


“He has seidr, is already familiar with my biology and can follow instructions. Good enough.” 

Tony gave a small cough, still making no effort whatsoever to come over to their little group, “If I may-”

“No, you may not,” she cut in, “I need all of you to shut up and let me think.” She took a breath, trying to steady herself, Loki ever attentive as she brainstormed, “I’m thinking start with a low level transfer just to help stabilize, too much of a kick start might cause a chain reaction-”

“Agreed.”

“Then, if you’ll remember when Sif came back with that worm from that incident with the Kree-” 

“If we do that, you’re going to pass out,” Loki cut in, “I may be able to complete the procedure, but you aren’t going to be conscious for the last ten minutes or so to assist if something goes wrong.”

"I dislike this idea," Thor mused. 

She dug her nails into her palms, suggesting other options, “I mean we could also-”

“Too slow.” 

Whether he was thinking with her or was in her head, she really didn’t care at this point. “Or-”

“ _ Gods _ , Sin, are you sure you don’t have a death wish?” 

“You really want me to answer that?” she asked him her tone bordering on dangerous before she took a shaky breath and continued, “Worm it is then, apologies to Thor. Mischief, I can walk you through the procedure during the transfer. Last ten minutes shouldn’t be too hard, you’ll just have to be quick.” She nodded to Thor who begrudgingly started to remove the cuffs, a whirl of angry threats to his brother just white noise in the background. 

“Why quick? What happens if it’s not quick?” Steve asked, looking very confused about the conversation at hand, “Also, transfer? Like what you were explaining on the jet? Cause I’m not sure I’m comfortable sitting here-” 

“Steve, I need you to go and stand with Stark. We don’t have time and I need the couch space,” she snapped, her voice strained as she laid back, not even seeing the soldier get up. 

“Is he really suggesting what I think he’s suggesting?” she heard Loki's voice ask as he knelt on the side of the couch over her, “And how does he even know about that?” 

“See me through and I’ll tell you the full story,” she mumbled, staring up at his large green eyes, his hands carefully pulling up her shirt to expose the wound, placing a cool palm over her hot skin, giving her a little bit of relief. “Never complaining about cold hands again.” 

One of the corners of his mouth curled up. “Ready?” he asked, looking at her. Somehow it was more comforting that the fear in his eyes matched the fear she felt. 

She paused for a moment and then nodded, and her world turned into the color green. 


	6. Wake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor and Loki have to work together. Steve and Tony find some not so hidden stuff. And Sigyn has a chat with a dead person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! My tumblr is zombiecheetah if you would like to submit a prompt, chat, or figure out when the hell I'm going to update this next! 
> 
> Comments are always appreciated and make me smile.

Being back inside of her head like this was less a warm welcome and more of a climb through a gaping hole in the wall. The small boost had helped her get her bearings at least, and when she had opened her eyes again after the initial transfer, her body relaxed a bit, once again being able to manage the pain.  Her hands slowly unclenched, and Loki could see small beads of blood where her nails had dug into her palms. But she was awake and assisting him as much as she could through mental instruction, as he carefully began to pull the parasite from her internal stores of seidr. 

Thor was quieter than he thought he would be, watching the two intently as Loki’s gaze flicked up at him. “Whatever it is you think I’m going to pull here-” 

His brother’s voice was quiet. “I hope a miracle. And that if you are able to pull her out of this, you’ll also have the good sense to leave her be.” 

Sigyn sighed, her voice now more steady if tired. “Not the time, Thor. If I start to go, you’re the calvary and the two of are going to have to work together very quickly to restore me.” She took a moment to evaluate her statement, and though she didn’t say anything, Loki could see her doubt in their shared ability to see her through.

The whirl of emotions inside of his head wasn’t helping either. This was still all his fault, a thought he had to chase away before it burned a hole in his chest. He could feel the same troubled waters in her own mind, but she had quickly smothered them trying to focus on letting him work without the distraction, her voice encouraging him on in his head. 

His hand on her stomach, even with the angry cut underneath was the softest form of touch he had experienced in about a year, a sad consolation prize for what he had wished for when she came to him before. A projection. She had not trusted him, or she would argue, trusted the titan, and she had been right. How much of the blame she placed on his shoulders he wasn’t sure, the most noted emotion from her at the moment was fear. It screamed at him as she patiently worked her way through a few of Thor’s questions on the technicalities of the procedure, and with it something that desperately wanted to rewind the past year and take them back to before his brother’s coronation. He could at least give her a small piece of those old times. 

“It would be a shame if you did die. Of all the long reports of my various offenses I’m about to be subjected to, yours was the one I was looking forward to the most.” 

“Really now?” she replied, something that resembled teasing in her voice, “And why, pray tell, is that?” 

“Do you think it’s going to be somehow kinder to you?” Thor asked, crossing his arms.

“Oh, no, not at all. Actually, it will probably be filled with the most fire and brimstone. But her report will also be the most thoroughly researched and incredibly well written. Multiple examples and supporting arguments all properly sourced. Perhaps even a diagram or two.

“Three.”  Their fall back into old habits relaxed her further, making it easier for him to work, Thor’s eyes rolling into the back of his head. “But also there’s several long sections with just  pure white rage that take up multiple pages.” 

“Very comprehensive. Wouldn’t expect anything less than that from you.” 

He paused, looking between her and Thor. “I do believe we’re at the point where you’ll be taking a bit of a nap.” The lightness in his voice faded with every word, as did Sigyn’s smile, fear once again flooding through.  

Thor patted her shoulder. “You’ll be back with us in no time, I swear it.” 

She nodded and settled back. “Let’s get this over with then.” 

He looked at Thor and then back at her. What he wanted to say was lost to him, and she looked like she was at a loss for words as well. Instead, she placed one of her hands on top of his on her stomach. Thor, thankfully pretended not to notice. 

It was the closest thing either of them was going to get to actually saying anything as he eased her into unconsciousness.

* * *

* * *

 

“So what, that was like an hour? Wait, not even.” Tony was playing with the stem of his martini glass, offering Steve a shot which he refused with a single shake of his head, the billionaire more than happy to knock it back himself. 

Steve couldn’t keep his eyes off the trickster, waiting for him to just blast Thor and Sigyn into the ground and leave. Thor was tense as well, breathing down his brother’s neck as he worked. “What do you mean?” 

Tony rolled his head around his shoulders, cracking his neck. “We had him in cuffs for like half a second and now he’s out of them with his hand up her shirt.”

Steve turned to look at him, incredulous at the crudity of his observation, “Hey.” 

“Let me tell you we thought this battle thing out all wrong…”

“That’s enough.” Steve’s voice was so sharp it seemed to ring across the bar as he snatched the glass out of Tony’s hand, “Did you at least tell the others not to head back up here?” 

“Left a message, they’re all passed out. Decided not to wake them up.” 

“And what if he tries to run?” 

“He’s not going to,” Stark said simply, nodding over to the other side of the room. “Let me show you something.” 

Steve was reluctant but allowed the three Asgardians out of his sight as Tony brought him over to a viewing portal. 

“So like every man who has just been burgled by a centuries old god,” Tony started, “and given the lady’s cryptic as hell message she sent us, I decided to check the security cameras.” 

The hologram flickered on, Stark winding it forward until he found what he had been looking for. 

“Here,” he said handing him an earpiece, “Don’t want to interrupt  _ General Hospital _ in the other room.” 

Steve blinked at him wondering if at this point he should just start a list for what he assumed was another pop culture reference as he popped the piece in his ear, Sigyn’s voice clear in his ear. 

_ Mischief.  _

He watched the couple talk, his brow furrowing at several points before handing the earpiece back to Tony. 

“You want to know the kicker?” Tony said in a low voice glancing back towards the three, “She told JARVIS to record this and to send her a copy of the footage. So she could have deleted it but she didn’t. Instead, she locked it so only us, Point Break and Team Sleepyheads downstairs can access it. And how much you wanna bet that copy she made is going to Mommy and Daddy Thor to get Reindeer off death row?” 

“If she somehow hasn’t sent it already,” Steve said staring at the screen, thinking through every conversation he had had with Sigyn and Thor since they both stepped foot on that quinjet to take Loki to the helicarrier. 

_ Trust me.  _

“Look, as long as he’s off Earth at the end of the day, I’m happy. This other shit Reindeer says though, let’s not deal with until I’m at least another five drinks in.” Tony moved to go back towards the bar, pausing when Steve didn’t follow with him. “Penny for your thoughts there, Rogers?”

He stared down at the hologram. “Just deciding how upset I should be that neither her or Thor let on that they knew so much about his army and its commander. Could have been more helpful. Or maybe it was just her who knew.” 

“Or are you upset that the lady batted her big eyes at you only to help out Boy Toy?” 

“It’s not like she blew up a compound and stabbed us in the chest,” Steve retorted.

“No, she ordered you out of the room just now so she could get cozy with Horny.”

Tony’s smile was wide and Steve knew he was just pressing his buttons. “Doing so under pain of death isn’t exactly my idea of cozy.” 

“Maybe it is for them. Doesn’t he seem kinky to you? I mean the helmet alone-” 

A loud crash from the other side of the room made Tony groan, though Steve couldn’t help but feel slightly relieved. “Stop breaking my shit!” he shouted, as the two heros quickly ran back over to the other room to see just what the hell was going on.

* * *

* * *

Sigyn suddenly finding herself in her childhood room should have just made her more worried about the Odinson brothers’ abilities to keep her alive, but instead, she just felt resigned. Apathetic almost. Cold. A trait her father wore well that she had tried to reject at every turn, but now it seemed inevitable.

“You seem to be a bit worse for wear.” 

The healer lit up upon seeing her mother, glowing and warm, leaning against the doorframe of her room, her eyes also dark, though unlike her daughter, she had learned how to properly tame her hair. 

Sigyn leaned up against the wall, mimickingher. “I just really wanted a visit. I was surprised after I left and you died, Father hadn’t burned everything in here to the ground.”

Her mother sighed as she slowly walked in and looked around at the books, the writings and drawings that covered the walls so that only specks of the gold wallpaper underneath came through, “Your father was a complicated man. I doubt you remember much before his father came to live with us and spoiled his mind.” 

“Bits and pieces of very distant happy memories, sure. Early schooling perhaps.” Sigyn gave her mother a wink. “But you taught me everything I know. When I first came to Asgard, the palace healers were not confident in my abilities given I had privately trained with you rather than gone through their own system. I still think back on their faces, that time I healed the Allmother when they all couldn’t, Loki’s face especially...” 

“I have yet to think of a better revenge of mine than to send you there,” her mother said, reaching over to lovingly fuss with Sigyn’s hair. “My dearest Sin, who wouldn’t let us call her Sig because she hated figs so much. Bless.” Her mother’s smile faded slightly. “I simply hope the path I sent you on is not going to bring you to Valhalla with me too soon.” 

“I’m not going to blame you if Loki fails. Recent pains aside, all of this was still much better than anything my father could have provided me with.” Sigyn’s smile faded as she could only think of loud explosions and screaming with a flash of green racing above her head. 

“You seem to be also following my path of having a complicated partner.” 

“Loki wasn’t ever that complicated.” Sigyn stared down at the ground, “I just don’t want him, or any of this to…” she trailed off, biting her lip. 

“You’re worried he’s traveling down the same road as your father.” 

She was silent in her reply. Her mother reached out and took her into her arms, smelling of sweet flowers and nothing of the tour of infirmaries Sigyn had always associated her with.

“He does care for you,” her mother said, “in fact I can hear him right now. He’s very loud. Quite worried.” 

Sigyn let out a quiet groan. “Shit, I’ve flatlined, haven’t I?” 

Her mother gave a small dismissive wave of her hand. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. Either way, we only have a few more moments in this space, so let me tell you this. If the prince improves, he improves. And if he doesn’t...well, you know what to do. But that’s going to be up to him.” 

The healer’s heart was a mixed bag of emotions that suddenly became a sheet of white.  

* * *

* * *

She could hear the men yelling at each other as she slowly came back through, something with Tony and a table.

“Just because everything else is destroyed doesn’t mean that you can just keep breaking shit.” 

“Apologies,” Thor’s voice said, “we had a moment of panic there, but it’s all better now.” 

“Stupid oaf,” Loki growled out right by her ear, nearly making her jump. “We almost lost her.” 

Thor sighed. “How much longer?” 

“I’m not sure. I’m making sure she’s stabilized and then I’ll see if I can wake her to have her help me again.” The prince raised an eyebrow. “If you are looking at rushing us all back to Asgard this evening, that may not happen. And you may need to leave her here for a few days. Tesseract travel is not exactly ideal for anyone in less than, well, ideal condition.” 

“We saw,” she mumble out, slowly opening her eyes, to see a surprised Loki Odinson above her and scorch marks on the ceiling, “I wondered if you had eaten those mushrooms again.” 

“Says the sweating bloody heap on Stark’s couch,” Loki replied, trying and failing to not look so relieved. 

“Still prettier. Gods, did the two of you play catch with my insides, or what?” she asked, wincing, as she slowly adjusted herself, before looking up at Loki. “You did it.” 

The God of Mischief shrugged, “You sound like you didn’t think I could.” 

“If I may…” Her hand over his, slowly lifted his palm up to evaluate his work. The gash would scar, but heal if she allowed her body to simply work at it. “It’ll do.” The thing that had attached itself to her magic was gone at the very least. 

Loki’s tone was apologetic, “Seeing that I’m no healer-”

“And I’m no warrior, we can trade back at any point and time.” 

“Deal.” 

There was talk of arrangements and of what to do next, but her eyelids were refusing to stay open, and taking the small blessing that no one had yet pulled him away from her, she fell asleep with his hand still in hers.  

* * *

* * *

Watching Steve’s face as Loki described all the various needs his little lady would need for the next few days was worth more than the considerable amount of damage the god had inflicted onto the Tower. He had even changed and cleaned her with a snap of his fingers. Tony not being a religious man in the slightest, found himself thanking whatever higher power existed above the two gods in the room that he didn’t need to worry about getting her out of the impossible looking armor that the three of them had sported. What the hell was fashion like there if this shit was their armor?  

Thor departed with his brother early the next morning. Steve moved her to one of his not destroyed guest rooms. From that point it was just them all establishing a pattern, talking with the group to figure out what worked and what didn’t. Figuring out just how much cash this was going to cost him. The PR was good for now, though he knew how quickly the media could turn sour. 

SHIELD and the Council had just gotten out of deep shit themselves, quickly revising their story that they had “totally meant to send them a nuke” which just added anger to the light headedness and stomach aches he felt whenever he thought of that portal. 

It had been a hell of a day, after all. 

He had actually nearly forgotten he had an extra houseguest until that evening, when he heard sounds coming from the kitchen. And smelled something really really good. 

“Please, tell me you’re planning on sharing that,” he breezed as he stepped into the room, her turned towards the stove and the counter, “Too bad Boy Toy couldn’t stay behind to make you a morning after meal, hm?” 

“He doesn’t know how to cook,” she replied, not turning to him, but with a smile in her voice nevertheless. “He and Thor grew up pretty damn spoiled.” 

“Couldn’t tell.” It was only now Tony realized that some of the pots and pans were stirring themselves as he sat on a bar stool chair, leaning onto the kitchen island. “Turning this all into ‘Be Our Guest’ I see.”

“I wasn’t planning on making the dishes do a kickline, but plans can change.” She finally turned to face him, “I think you’d make the better Lumiere though.”  

“I mean that goes without saying.” He grinned sheepishly at her. “If boy toy knew you were out of bed and playing  _ Bewitched _ right now, he’d slit my throat.”

She gave a small side smile. “I won’t tell if you won’t. My seidr is still in low supply but back in order. This-” she waved her hand over the stove, “is how I check to make sure nothing strange is going on with my powers.” 

“So should I arm myself with a fire extinguisher then?” 

“If I thought I was going to damage any more of your Tower then I would not have started.” 

“You wouldn’t be the first god to fuck up this tower. Thunder and Chaos killed an additional coffee table while you were out, I think right after you died a little bit.” 

“As one does.” She turned off the stove took out two bowls and began to assemble something with steak and noodles that made his mouth water. “I’m almost offended they didn’t break more stuff,” she remarked, looking up at him. “How about you? How are you feeling, recovering after all this?” 

He shrugged. “Being hero of the world is great for getting laid. You’ll probably meet Pepper at some point. She’s off putting out another fire.” 

She set a bowl down in front of him on the island, “I would think being with you, she’d have to be good at that.” 

“I’m not saying that isn’t true, just that I didn’t fuck up half of Manhattan.”

“Touche.” She handed him a fork. “You know, not that he ever reached anything close to this level, but Thor is usually the one causing issues. Hammer first, thinking later and so on.” 

Tony took a bite from the bowl, closing his eyes and nodding with satisfaction. “Did you ever give this to him cause I’d be on my best behavior for more of that.”

“Is this currently not your best behavior?” she asked, setting her bowl on the island and picking up her fork. 

“Close to it.” 

He continued to eat as she moved her food into different piles. “You should probably eat that,” he said, nodding to the bowl. “It’s good as all hell and Boy Toy yelled at me and Rogers to make sure you do.” 

“Mischief has a tendency to be protective,” she said lightly, spearing a piece of carrot onto her fork. “Sure he made Steve’s day.” 

“I should have recorded it for you, speaking of which I gotta ask,” Tony said, leaning forward closer to her, “just how did you get JARVIS to record that bit for you?” 

She raised an eyebrow. “I asked politely.” 

Tony stared at her blankly before smiling. “Probably a security bug I should fix.” 

“Probably.” 

She was watching him carefully, on edge, waiting for other more invasive questions to drop but he decided to cut her some slack. If the guy who sent those things was going to make a return, best to have her and Thor on their side. 

“So since Thor is gone,” Tony started, catching her attention, “and you’ve known him for what, like 400 years?”

“I think it’s closer to 700 actually but continue.” 

“Motherfucker,” Tony muttered under his breath, “So like a long fucking time. Which means you should have some hilarious blackmail on him.”

She smiled slyly, finally taking a small bite from her plate, “Do you want an alphabetical or numerical list?” 

“Ooooo, this is going to be good,” he said, settling in, but she paused, the silence quickly growing awkward over their light banter. 

“Something up?” 

She shook her head. “Just thinking of an appropriate story.”

“I actually need to insist that you start with the inappropriate ones.” 

That made her almost laugh as she launched into some crazy story about Thor losing his hammer and having to disguise himself as a bride to get it back. Just the A+ material he was looking for. Though he suspected as she went on that Reindeer usually featured more heavily in it. He could tell the tale was well rehearsed, the cuts and edits noticeable enough to make him wonder just what information she was censoring for his enjoyment. 

But he didn’t push it, instead just eating his noodles and making off-color remarks. You know, like everything was normal.

* * *

* * *

“Something about having this hovel already prepared for me seems poetic,” Loki mused as Thor unlatched him silently, only communicating in glares. “Ah, come now brother,” he said peering at him. “I saved our dear Sin, did I not? Even if you do not believe her tale-”

“Loki, pretending that the titan was the beginning of your troubles is a sad untruth indeed,” Thor said. “And saving her after being the one who placed her in such danger in the first place is hardly noble.” 

“Forgive me but I do believe I was otherwise indisposed when she went whirling around the galaxy,” he said, slightly taken aback. “It was you who allowed such in the first place.” 

“You misunderstand then, brother. When the discussion first came up of a search, it came from her, already half packed. I asked to join her, not the other way around.” He moved out of his cell, onto the ground, the forcefield immediately humming again, trapping his brother inside as he turned to face him. “

Loki couldn’t help but smile to himself. “That’s my girl.” 

“How long will that remain true?” Thor asked, peering up at him, “I thought we were brothers and would fight together forever. That has not remained so.” 

“You know we are not,” Loki said, a light shake of his head. “Your father lied to me. Took me as a war prize. It’s a miracle he allowed me to be raised with you instead of throwing me in here in the first place. Or worse.” 

Thor shook his head. “That is not the story, brother, simply more lies the titan has twisted into your mind.” 

“Is it?” he asked, frowning at Thor. “Even if I was a runt, I was a prince, Laufey’s heir. Why would I be left in the cold to die?” 

“The giants are savages, Loki.” 

“Are they?” Loki shrugged. “They care for their old and sick same as we. How much about them do we truly know?” 

Thor looked as if he was victim to the largest headache in the nine. “May I remind you that you tried to kill them all?” 

“May I remind you that you threatened to do the same at least once a week when we were children?”

“Actually, hold on, you tried to kill me!”

“I wonder why I would try to rid myself of a potential killer whom I’ve known since childhood to have a bloodlust for dead Jotun?” 

“Loki!” Thor looked very tempted to throw himself back into his brother's cell. “How could you think that? You truly think so little of me that you think I would have murdered you where you stood had you just come clean to me about what happened when you came to me on Earth?” 

“That was a whole other matter entirely. I was protecting our realm from you. You never appreciated your birthright, your responsibility.” 

“Yes, attempting to subjugate the humans just screamed responsibility, Loki.” 

“On that I did not have much of a choice, did I?” he asked tightly, his face cold. “Dear Sin knew I was not right in the head, did you?” 

“I was the one who found you,” Thor insisted, shaking his head. “We both speculated, yes, but, Loki, these behaviors began before your descent to the titan. Can you truly tell me that you did not want any of what you did?”

“It’s a bit difficult to tell these days,” Loki said tensely, "or are you seriously suggesting that I wanted to murder my fiance?" 

Thor frowned, "Is she still your fiance? I thought all wedding talk had ceased since you threw yourself off the Bifrost. And this cell does not seem to fit your vision." 

Loki blinked, feeling anger beginning to boil in his bones. “Are you now going to tell me that you’re planning to keep Sigyn from me as Father is with mother?” 

“We both know that would be impossible.” Thor started to speak but paused, reconsidered what he was about to say, and then continued. “I did not agree to such terms, but you should know that if you do attempt to escape, Father will assume Sigyn an accomplice and she will be tried as such.” 

Loki looked as if his brother had just slapped him. “Holding a blade at her neck to attempt to control mine is beneath you, brother,” he said, those his face betrayed his unease. “As well as will only further push her back into my arms if your goal is to send her affections otherwise.” 

“We’ll see,” Thor said quietly as he walked away from him, leaving him alone and slightly confused as to just what nonsense his brother was plotting next. 


	7. For Want of Resolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor has a lot on his mind and talking to Sif doesn't exactly help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet but more Thor and Sif. As usual, let me know what you think down below! And check out my tumblr, also zombiecheetah. :)

It seemed that no one really knew what to do with Loki.

Thor paced his room, going over the argument he and his parents had just had in the large council room that during their discussion had seemed absolutely claustrophobic. He found himself envying Sigyn who had already sent her communications, supporting his mother’s wishes for Loki to not be executed. His wish as well, he reminded himself though he could not help but understand his father’s hesitance in allowing Loki to remain alive. 

He had not gone back to visit his brother yet. War was once again on their doorstep and as soon as Heimdall was done repairing the Bifrost with the Tesseract, he and the other warriors would all be soon be sent off to fight invading forces in other realms. Well, except for the Badoon who all seemed to fight each other just to fight. They had a nasty habit of spreading their wars amongst themselves to other worlds so they still would need to be dealt with quickly. Unlikely, Thor thought with a groan, as only the Norns knew what force awaited them on, Nidavellir, their first stop in their tour to pacify the nine realms. It was always concerning when the dwarves, blacksmiths by trade, encountered a force they could not handle themselves. Usually, the thought of such a glorious fight would invigorate him, but Thor just found himself exhausted by the weight of it all. Perhaps Loki was right after all. He really was never ready to be King. 

He was just thinking about how maybe some sleep would do him some good when he heard an old familiar voice behind him. 

“So was she too ashamed to return with her criminal fiance?” 

Thor sighed and turned around to see a tense Sif standing in the doorway of his room, arms crossed. “Or,” she continued, “did she finally just decide to stay on that blasted planet for good? It’s really all the same to me.” 

“If you are truly interested,” Thor said calmly, as he turned to look at Sif, “She remains as she was too injured to return by way of Tesseract. Heimdall should have the Bifrost ready tomorrow. I shall fetch her before setting off with the rest of you to Nidavellir.”

“Define too injured,” Sif questioned carefully. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, but her eyes were wide with concern, a detail Thor attempted to grab onto and wrestle into a plea for reconciliation between the two former friends. 

“Perhaps instead you should go fetch her and ask,” Thor suggested, making Sif narrow her eyes at him, “Come on, Sif, I know somewhere deep  _ deep _ down you miss her and I know she misses you. I would have thought you of all people would understand her intentions.”

Sif snapped back at him immediately walking right up to him and getting in his face, her voice coming out in a hiss. “If you are referencing the incident I believe you are, I fail to recall the bit where Haldor attempted to destroy one realm and enslave the other. I’m not even sure where to begin with that bit of madness from your brother-” 

“Loki is a frost giant.” 

She paused in her anger, opening and closing her mouth a few times, blinking. “Have you also gone mad?”

“He’s adopted,” he continued in a low voice, crossing his arms and staring at the floor. “Odin took him from Jotunheim as a babe and hid his identity from him. He found out that day we went to Jotunheim. Laufey is his true father.” 

“And you were planning on mentioning this…” Sif backed down just a bit but continued to stare at him, processing the information. “Who else knows?” 

“Heimdall, Sigyn, and I believe Fandral. There may be others but it is not exactly a well-known secret.” 

“You’ve been sitting on this information for months,” she said, staring at him incredulously. “Months, Thor. And you’ve just allowed me to stand here and rant away...why not just tell me?” 

Thor sighed and rubbed his eyes with his hand, once again reminded of just how tired he was. “I was waiting to hear confirmation from Sigyn of his death before telling all of you. But then she heard rumors of him being alive and possessed by a force I doubt even all of Asgard has the full capabilities to fight. She was working with Nova Core to gather information and see if she could extract him.” 

Sif let out another huff, but the anger in her face and the edge in her voice softened. “I’m still not fully convinced he’s worth it.” Her gaze found his and she searched his eyes, looking for answers that he wasn’t sure he was ready to give. “What is this force that has you so shaken?” 

“A titan. His intentions are still unclear, only that he wanted Loki to secure the tesseract for his own personal use. There is strong evidence to suggest that Loki was tortured and manipulated into much of what happened on Earth. And if that is the level of destruction this titan can achieve through the manipulation of one like us then…,” he trailed off not fully vocalizing what he feared. “As I said this needs attention.” 

“And what do you need from me then?” Sif asked, giving his arm a comforting pat, “Whatever it is, we can stop it together. Whatever it takes.” 

“You may not like what I have to say,” Thor said with a soft knowing smile. “I need us back together as much as we can be. Whatever squabbles you currently have with the others, those either need to be reconciled or pushed to the side. I need you focused on winning this war as quickly as possible so we can prepare for this titan.” 

“You really want me to talk to Loki?” Sif muttered. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” 

Thor considered her for a moment. “You’re right, let’s give Sigyn time to talk to him first. Perhaps that conversation can wait until after the war.” 

“You really still trust her?” The question sounded more hopeful than anything else, “She isn’t going to spring him out and run off with him?” 

Thor shook his head, “His fate is currently tied to hers. But as my brother so accurately observed, if we wish for her to seek affections elsewhere, we need to fully invite her back into our fold. Else she’ll simply run back to him.” 

Sif scoffed. “If you seriously are considering trying to set her up with other suitors, good luck with that. And speaking of such,” her voice was sly but even Thor could note the slight bitterness in her tone, “how is your dear Dr. Foster?” 

He stammered. “I, well, as the situation was very unsafe, she was sent elsewhere. I did not get the chance to say hello.” 

“Shame. You’re going back there, though, are you not?” 

“I doubt I will have the time. Nidavellir has need of both of us.” 

“That it does.” Sif gave a small laugh that only annoyed Thor as she turned to leave. “I will allow you to prepare for your return to Earth and the battle ahead.” 

“What’s so funny?” 

“Nothing, nothing,” it’s just…” she paused at the doorway, “Well, you saw how far Sigyn went for Loki. And Lorelei is only alive because of a rare poorly bestowed moment of mercy from your father, not me. If you do not wish to see this Jane for even a moment, perhaps you need to do some soul searching as well.” 

It wasn’t fair of her to leave him with one additional worry on his plate. And it was not like Jane and him were properly courting or anything. But the point stood and made him feel...odd. Perhaps a visit wouldn’t go amiss. But the war and…

It was at this point Thor decided bed was best, hoping that some sleep would make his head stop spinning, even clear it enough to figure out the best pathway forward. 

If this was a look into his future as King of Asgard, Thor wasn’t sure if the throne was worth the heartache. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Update: April 3nd at 7 p.m. (Delayed slightly again!)


	8. The Inbetween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are some conversations...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading guys, we're wrapping this baby up in a few chapters and I'm so happy you all have stuck with it. 
> 
> As always, for fic updates, I'm at zombiecheetah on tumblr. 
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments! Or just tell me the number of nicknames for Loki you think Tony has come up with by now.

It was another day as Steve Rogers, 90-something years old and 70-something years too late. The Captain America of the 1940s currently staring over a hurting but steady NYC through brand new windows Stark had insisted would definitely not break next time. God-proof, he had insisted, with Steve hoping that they wouldn’t need to test that claim anytime soon. Or maybe they did. Sitting still didn't suit him and only brought back memories that hurt. 

For some reason, Peggy was now a constant visitor in his dreams. His Peggy that he actually got to dance with, who gave him that same look she had given him when they first met before he was America's superhero. The brief moments of blissful happiness his dreams offered immediately crashed into unyielding guilt when he woke, not being able to shake the feeling that he was somehow neglecting the real breathing Peggy of now. The one with the memory problems who wasn’t living life as much as clutching onto the last few threads of it. He still couldn’t decide if the visits held more comfort or heartbreak for him but he was willing to put money down on the latter.

Still. Couldn’t leave his best girl behind. 

“If you keep staring into the middle distance, Rogers, Stark is going to start playing some horrid 80s ballad in here."

Sigyn seemed to almost appear next to him, dressed in blue and more relaxed than he'd ever seen her. Maybe it was his enhanced senses or maybe the others saw it too, but she and Thor just were different...nearly human but just not quite. Thor's voice often seemed to boom like the thunder he created in that battle and every room he had entered became just a bit more humid. Sigyn he could tell now glowed with a barely noticeable energy he had to assume was magic. "Definitely something Bonnie Tyler," she continued, staring out the window with him, her eyes trailing from one building to the next.  

“Maybe he should play it anyway. I still have a lot of catching up to do,” he replied as she stood next to him, tucking a piece of dark hair behind her ear, “You’re not even from this planet and you know more about it than me.”

“You know plenty,” she assured him with a wide smile, “And you have Google now right on your phone. Makes what you don’t know a lot easier to look up.”

“Google. Right,” Steve groaned as he crossed his arms over his chest, “I think Tony's going to have to give me a dumber phone to start out with. My fingers can't even press all the keys properly." 

"I think they make phones for kids with where the buttons are just stick pictures of their parents and a firetruck," Sigyn teased, "Shouldn't be difficult for Tony to rig up." 

He snorted. "Give me a break. The stuff we had back in the day was, well, you remember don't you?" 

"I do." Her gaze left the window and wandering over to him. "I think I might have one of the first walkie-talkies used during the war."

He raised an eyebrow. "You didn't strike me as the sentimental type. Though I'd love to see one if you do have it. That was the cutting edge tech I could get onboard with."

"I have a small collection of things I've accumulated since I began my time on Earth." She turned so she was fully facing him instead of the window, "I'll see if I can find it, I don't usually take that stuff out. Asgardians aren't usually that interested in anything other than Asgard so I don't usually have an opportunity to show and tell." 

"So I take it you're planning on coming back?" Steve asked. As far as he knew there wasn't any reason for her to return, especially in his lifetime.  

"Don't really see a way around it at this point," Sigyn said with a sigh but quickly moved on without elaborating further, "I hope you take some time for yourself. You must have plenty of vacation time, right? You moved so quickly from the ice to the suit I'm surprised you're not still defrosting." 

"I believe the word you're looking for is 'Capsicle,' Steve mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he remembered that fun first encounter with Tony, “I’ve slept long enough. The world needs Captain America. Even if he can’t do magic tricks.”

The look on her face was a strange combination of amusement and disappointment, “Not a slightly less bitter Steve Rogers?"

He opened his mouth but she cut him off before he could form the first word. “I know you like everyone else in this tower think my decisions only revolve around what Stark has now taken to calling Loki’s glorious purpose in his pants.”

He snorted. “I’m shocked you haven’t killed Tony.” 

“I like Tony when he's not speculating about my intimate affairs which is more often than you make think. And he almost died saving all of us," she said, her tone turning more somber. "Or have you not noticed that any mention of that portal makes him jumpier than a bilgesnipe in heat?" 

Steve pretended he absolutely knew what a bilgesnipe was, "Yeah, I have," he said quietly. "But I'm sure he'll be fine. Everyone will be. Hell, I'm sure this was just like a Tuesday for Nat so-"

"Steve," Sigyn said quietly, "You need to take some time to process all this. Maybe talk to someone. Cause you're wound tighter than you were on stage that day I saw you on tour." 

"Hey, war bond sales were great that year." He scratched his ear before the sound of JARVIS filled the room. 

_Lady Sigyn, if you could please report to the top of the tower. Mr. Stark wishes to inform you that Point Break has returned to fetch you._

  
"I guess I'm going to have to watch that movie, aren't I?" Sigyn mused before giving Steve a small bow of her head, "Until next time, Captain."   
  
"Walkie-talkies," he insisted as he watched her walk to the elevator. "Hey, Sig, wait." 

Steve could have sworn she had shuddered but she paused at the door nonetheless. "If we're on a pet name basis, Sin, please. Not Sig. I'm not a fig." 

"Pretty sure I'd prefer a fig to a sin, but, anyway," Steve paused trying to figure out what to say, "Just if you do find some stuff, I'd appreciate it." 

"I'll see what I can come up with." She gave him a wink and as she stepped into the elevator he could have sworn he heard her humming that obnoxious theme song that he prayed to God Tony would never ever hear. 

* * *

* * *

_What was taking so long?_

It didn't help that the cell he was pacing around felt claustrophobic or that the books he had piled in a small corner he was already bored of, but Sigyn should have been back by now. 

 _Maybe Thor forgot to bring her back. Maybe Odin banished her to the planet’s surface since that worked out so brilliantly before. Maybe her injury is once again festering and she is dying which was only the fault of my own stupid idiotic…_  

“I see you’re using the space to get some exercise,” Frigga remarked and he turned to see her projection once again in the corner of the room, her hands clasped in front of her, looking at him warmly. 

“Just wondering if Thor forgot how to use the Bifrost,” Loki muttered, falling into a chair, lounging across it as he sighed. “You are sure then that they will all be leaving the realm tonight then, save Sigyn?” 

“The others have already left. Thor will join them as soon as he returns with her.” Frigga raised an eyebrow. “She is safe and well cared for and will be placed on rest when she returns for quite awhile. There is no need to panic. Or,” her warm smile turned almost devious, “Do I sense a personal investment in having her back in Asgard?”

“Is it truly too selfish of me to wish to see her?” he asked his mother quietly, “Especially after her handshake with the otherside of the veil? And given Thor’s threats to keep her from me…”

“Patience, my dear,” Frigga gently but firmly insisted, “I doubt if Sigyn wished to see you that even all of your brother’s power could keep her away.” 

“ _If_ she wants to see?” He glared up at his mother before climbing out of his chair, settling back into his routine of pacing, “Not exactly words that bring me comfort, dear mother.” He one by one gave each of his fingers a small tug, the sound of cracking knuckles accompanying his pacing as he continued with his anxious dance. 

“Is it going to take Sigyn to get you to approach the subject of what happened before Earth?” Frigga asked, absentmindedly playing with the rings that decorated her fingers, “The more you can tell us the faster we can get you out of this cell-”

“It appears my legacy is simply hopping from one prison to another,” he replied, smoothly turning on his heel to face his mother who looked taken aback at the accusation. “Come now, mother, how exactly was Odin going to execute his plan to combine our kingdoms without using me to bring Jotunheim to heel? Thor should have let me bury the realm rather than subjecting them to Odin’s wrath again.”   

“Let’s not twist your intentions that night so easily,” Frigga warned carefully, “What you did was beneath you. But it can be forgiven. All of this can.”

“You’d have me beg forgiveness at the feet of the man who should be begging me for mine,” Loki snapped. “And really? _Beneath me_? Seeing that I am both a Jotun and a prisoner here, I appear to be beneath the rest of you in more ways than one. If my only path to freedom is truly through Odin then I’m afraid I’ll be rotting in here until Ragnarok.”

“You’d be disappointing Sigyn.”

His smile was tight. “I already have.” He stared at the ground, picking at his nails, his voice immediately softening. “Perhaps then it is better if she does not come.”

His mother opened her mouth to respond but then closed it, and just stood there smiling at him before the vision of her disappeared from his cell completely. He peered at the empty space she had inhabited, confused at what had made her leave until the sound of another voice behind him made his heart skip a beat.

“Too late, Mischief.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Update: April 11th at 9:00 p.m. It will be up. Just being sick sucks man. :P


	9. A Soft Place to Land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor decides to follow some advice. Loki's cell has an extra visitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for patiently waiting for this to go up and thank you so much for reading and commenting! I love seeing what you think and it's been super helpful with keeping me on track with this series. <3

Thor knocked on the door for the third time, staring at the piece of paper in his hand. Pepper had been nice enough to rewrite the address herself after even his handle on Allspeak couldn’t read what Stark had scribbled, but he was now beginning to worry that she had gotten the address wrong. 

London was the total opposite of New Mexico and Thor had to admit that he much preferred the bright sun and dusty landscapes then the dreary rain that even he wasn’t sure he could stop. It didn’t help that his breathing was uneven and the ink was beginning to smear as the paper slowly turned to pulp in his hand. Maybe he couldn’t stop the rain because it so clearly reflected his mood. Maybe Jane just didn’t wish to see him or she was out with another lover or-

“Thor?” 

He quickly turned to see Jane, wide-eyed and jaw dropped, holding two bags of groceries in her arms, not a raindrop on her. She nearly dropped one, Thor quickly reaching out to catch it.  

“The Bifrost has only now been restored,” he murmured, his eyes tracing over her face, “Otherwise, my sweet Jane, I would have called sooner.” 

“I should have bought more Pop-Tarts,” she breathed, still awe-struck by the blonde god in front of her. “I missed you.” 

“I missed you too.” Thor smiled sweetly and leaned in to kiss her. Jane, all too happy with the development, closed the distance between them, almost dropping her second bag of groceries. When he pulled back, his smile was bright. “I can not stay long, but I had hoped you wished to see me.” 

Her voice was unnaturally high when she answered him. “Yeah, you could say that.” She stood on her toes to kiss him again as she absentmindedly pulled her house key from the front pocket of her jeans. “So, did you want to come in or-” 

“Jane Foster there is nothing I would love more than exactly that.”

 

***

 

Loki tried to swallow the lump in his throat, swearing it instead increased in size, his stomach performing incredible acrobatics as he stared at her. “You shouldn’t be doing magic,” was his immediate greeting his eyes wide with worry, anger tinging his voice, “Your last projection nearly killed you.” 

Sigyn held out her hand, calling a book into her outstretched palm from his large pile in the corner, the volume landing neatly in her hand with a satisfying thunk. “You’re losing your touch,” she remarked with a raised eyebrow, before casually flipping the volume over so she could read the cover, “Didn’t I lend you this like six years ago?”

Cool, calm, collected indeed. And dressed now to more accurately match the memories of her he had clung to in his more desperate hours of need. He wasn’t sure as to why she was acting so nonchalant about the entire situation like he hadn’t been a source of constant pain and heartbreak for nearly a year now. “I wasn’t aware Thor and Odin were allowing you conjugal visits,” he said lightly, his hands now firmly clasped behind his back. 

“Who said I asked permission?” She flipped through the pages of the book for a moment before closing it and setting it down on the side of his table. “And thank you for the concern but the magic is not mine. A gift from Heimdall I am most definitely using improperly. And before you ask, I can only transfer myself in and out of here.” She glanced around the cell, taking in all of the small pieces of furniture, “Not that I got a vote, but I advised against this particular solution.” 

“Thor told me you had some say,” he said, not sure if he should move closer to her or further away, “You were apparently the best lock and key they could come up with.” 

She gave him a half-hearted smile, “I’m flattered, but I’m not going to lie I was more than a bit insulted.” 

“They test your title too far.” He watched as she took a small turn around his room, keeping a respectful distance from him, he noted, her eyes further evaluating his cell. He watched her fingers lightly tap the furniture, her slightly favoring her side. Still healing then. “So what other parts of this arrangement should I be aware of then?”

“Well, seeing that now Earth is aware of our presence, I’ll be returning there from time to time in more of an ambassador role. But I will not be gone for more than a few days at a time. And I’m also helping Thor strategize for the wars among the realms. Not sure yet if I’ll actually be accompanying him and the others or not.” She didn’t look at him as she slowly sat on the edge of his sorry excuse for a bed. “I know this isn’t ideal but I’m in a decent place to help you, though I’m going to need to do some groveling of my own to earn back some trust I lost.” 

“I never asked you to,” he said quickly, dismissively, not wanting to hear any more, “Help that is. I was not lying when I said I was surprised to see you on that mountainside.” 

She smoothed the fabric of her dress over her knees. “Lucky for you, I am one of three remaining Asgardians who has a space-worthy ship from back in the day and I believe mine is the only one that still functions. And it should. It was the only thing my grandfather loved more than he hated Odin.”

Loki unclasped his hands brought them around to his front, absentmindedly picking at his nails, “I doubt even I have any sweet words that could make any of this better for you. You were correct in saying that I ripped away your happiness from you.” 

Sigyn lifted her head and tilted it slightly, evaluating him. “I got it back.” 

His hands paused as his heart gave a beat that nearly leaped out of his chest. “You’re sweet.” 

“I missed you.” Her voice was sincere, and Loki knew that she was angrier than she was letting on. Being in each other’s minds had clarified much for both of them. But if she was going to sit and pretend that things were okay, that the two of them were okay, then he could live that fantasy with her, couldn’t he? Especially since that one in particular was so tempting to dive into. 

He slowly sat next to her on the bed, feeling electricity surge once again when his arm brushed against hers. “I missed you too, dearest. Trust me when I say not a day went by that I did not think of you.” 

A corner of her lip curled up and he slowly brushed the tips of his fingers over her jaw, testing the waters. He had no right to ask of her what he had taken for granted and then left behind. This was more than he deserved anyhow. “I’m sorry,” he heard himself say. 

Sigyn didn’t pull away. “Your apologies were the last thing I heard in my head before I blacked out. They were very detailed. I was impressed.” 

“There was much to be sorry for.” He cupped her face with his fingers, his thumb reverently tracing over her cheekbone, “I didn’t think I’d ever be this close to you again.” 

She leaned her head down and into the palm of his hand, kissing the inside of his wrist. “Not to take such a revelation lightly but the first thing I thought after being told of your adoption was that it finally made sense to me why you were always so cold.” 

Loki tensed at the mention, his fingers tightly lacing themselves in her hair. “And yet you came knowing that I was a monster.”

Sigyn sighed, looking worn but amused. “No, you overdramatic ass, I came because I love you” she murmured. He could feel his heart thumping at a strong gallop as she leaned her face up to his, her warm gaze flicking between his eyes and his lips, “What in the name of the nine am I going to do with you?” 

Loki didn’t have an answer, but pressing his lips to hers seemed to be a good start. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading "Bridge!"
> 
> The next one in this series is a short fic called "Soul Full of Gunk" between Iron Man 3 and Thor 2. Should be out Wednesday, April 18th! 
> 
> If you're looking for something with more Logyn goodness as well as some fun plays on Norse myth, "I Only See Red" is a prequel to "Snakes in the Garden" about the beginning of Loki and Sigyn's relationship. Also, Thor is getting married to a Frost Giant. It's a long story.


End file.
